Monthly Archives: July 2010

The MoparWiki

On Its Way To Become The One-Stop Information Reference For All Things Mopar

A wiki ( /ˈwɪki/ WIK-ee) is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used to create collaborative wiki websites, to power community websites, for personal note taking, in corporate intranets, and in knowledge management systems.

Wikis may exist to serve a specific purpose, and in such cases, users use their editorial rights to remove material that is considered "off topic." Such is the case of the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia. In contrast, open purpose wikis accept content without firm rules as to how the content should be organized.

WikiWikiWeb was the first wiki. Ward Cunningham started developing WikiWikiWeb in 1994, and installed it on the Internet domain c2.com on March 25, 1995. It was named by Cunningham, who remembered a Honolulu International Airport counter employee telling him to take the "Wiki" shuttle bus that runs between the airport's terminals. According to Cunningham, "I chose wiki-wiki as an alliterative substitute for 'quick' and thereby avoided naming this stuff quick-web."

Cunningham was in part inspired by Apple's HyperCard. Apple had designed a system allowing users to create virtual "card stacks" supporting links among the various cards. Cunningham developed Vannevar Bush's ideas by allowing users to "comment on and change one another's text."

In the early 2000s, wikis were increasingly adopted in enterprise as collaborative software. Common uses included project communication, intranets, and documentation, initially for technical users. Today some companies use wikis as their only collaborative software and as a replacement for static intranets, and some schools and universities use wikis to enhance group learning. There may be greater use of wikis behind firewalls than on the public Internet.

On March 15, 2007, wiki entered the online Oxford English Dictionary. Some people claim "Wiki" also stands for "What I Know Is" but this is a false backronym.

While WikiPedia is the most famous of on-line collaborative encyclopedias, MoparWiki wishes to focus on the single goal of ultimately becoming the best on-line reference with anything having to do with Mopar. Cars, people, racing, technical papers, parts, events, clubs, history, … even part manufacturers and sellers, or Mopar Magazines. Anything that has something to do with Mopar — should be included in the MoparWiki. That is the only goal and the only agenda.

Coincidentally, MoparWiki and WikiPedia use the same application to manage their wikis. MediaWiki is a software wiki package written in PHP, originally for use on Wikipedia. It is now used by several other projects of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation and by many other wikis.

Collaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together in an intersection of common goals — for example, an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature — by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Most collaboration requires leadership, although the form of leadership can be social within a decentralized and egalitarian group. In particular, teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.

How this collaboration works with the MoparWiki might start with someone who reads a great article on a particular Mopar racer like Richard Petty, executive like Walter P. Chrysler, a car make like Dodge, or even a car model like the Mirada in a book, magazine, or elsewhere on the Internet. He might then go to the MoparWiki to see what was already written on the topic. If the wiki had already been started, he might improve on it with any information he just read, and post a reference to where he found the information. If the topic hadn't already been created — he would hopefully create the wiki, put as much of the information he had time to add, and post a reference. He might later revisit the wiki as he had time — and add more information from the article he'd read on the subject. Others would then visit the article — and they too might add any missing information they might have, and cite a reference to it. Yet others might clean up the typographical or spelling errors they might find — or clean up the format to be consistent with other articles in the MoparWiki. Sysops have the task of visiting Recent changes to look for Spam, trolling, or any vandalism to an article — and either delete the small violations or roll the article back to a previous backup for any major vandalism. He then bans the Vandal from ever being able to again access any site on this server. It is also the task of the Sysop to make notations asking for citation to some fact — or to post that a fact has not yet been verified. In time, a single article might have had 25 people collaborate with its creation and improvements.

How You Can Help Adding Context

The MoparWiki is in need of a lot of help at all levels — from contributor, to the director of Sysops, to PHP Programmer — for it to achieve its goal. This goal is to purely educate people of all things Mopar in a one stop location. Mopar might no longer be with us in the next few years, and this is the time to start to preserve history.

Help with the topic context. When you read an article on a mopar topic that interests you — please go to the MoparWiki and see if the article already exists. If it doesn't — please create it, and at the very least list the reference so another with an interest in the topic will have a reference to refer to. Better yet, at least add an introduction too. If the article has already been created — then see if your reference has information that should be added to the article — add it and the reference. If you see any typo, then correct it. If you question a fact — post so in the Discussion (link in the topics NavBar) page so that a Sysop can check it out. It you see vandalism — report it.

If you want to help and just don't know what topic to start with, do a search for your favorite Mopar car, event, vendor, or person — and see if you can improve the article with hard facts and references to those hard facts. If you don't have a particular topic on your mind but want to help — just go to a Random page.

If you are a registered member of MoparStyle, then you have the access required to create or edit an article. There is an excellent on-line Help area, and it is very simple to learn how to format text. The best place to start is to look at quite a few of the existing topics and get an idea of the layout of articles. This is the format we want to follow for all of the articles. Every user has their own User page (go the MoparWiki while logged in at MoparStyle — and you will see a link to it) — and this is a perfect place to play around a little to practice text formatting. Use your User Page to make you own little personal home page. Do what you what with it to personalize — but just keep it clean and free of hate.

Mopar Vendors

If you are a promoter of a Mopar event, a manufacturer of a Mopar Part, an editor of a Mopar Magazine, or anything like that — you are welcome to create of edit the wiki on your business. We're looking for facts, information and history — not for a big spam page of advertising. Tell us about your product, service, and give a link to your site for the hard arm-twisting — but don't try to sell in the wiki. Inform — don't sell. It will be up to the Sysops to use their discretion on any editing out any spam that comes across like ten tons of garlic.

Sysops

For those who feel that they have a higher calling on the project — the MoparWiki needs a small group of Management Volunteers to become Sysops. A Sysop must first have demonstrated a a great desire for the success of the MoparWiki with his very active participation of creating, improving, and editing the articles. After a few weeks or months of doing so, if the active contributor feels the calling and would like to help in the management of the MoparWiki — use the contact form and throw your hat into the ring to be considered. We would ultimately like to have a core of about 6 active Sysops, and two Sysop Directors.

Interesting MoparWiki Links

The below are just a few of the many links you might want to scope out.